


Garlic Knots

by rusticshrubs



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Love, M/M, Weddings, ambiguous terminal illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 06:17:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14182722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rusticshrubs/pseuds/rusticshrubs
Summary: Sometimes he felt like he was dying along with Lance.Sometimes he wished he was.





	Garlic Knots

**Author's Note:**

> catch me crying my ass off while writing

It was 10 days since the doctor told Keith that Lance wasn’t going to make it to his 21st birthday. 

  
  


*

 

Alcohol seemed silly a while ago, and Keith continuously attempted to grasp how adults treasured it. It was confusing, but he hoped he’d be able to understand its importance someday. 

 

He  _ was _ a bit older than Lance, but never really drank before. Especially by himself, it would be pretty sad. Usually they would sip on some smoothies together or go chill at the pizza shack until the moon came up. 

 

Hopefully, they’d share their first drinks together when Lance turned the legal age. 

 

“We’re going to make you chug wine at the party, Lance,” Pidge grinned, as she tapped on her phone in the booth. 

 

Hunk slurped his milkshake.

 

“You’re not even 21, dude, you’re far from it.”

 

She scoffed and stood up, heading to the salad bar. Keith wondered if she was really going to be healthy or just steal all the croutons. 

 

“Oh, well I’m not like Mr.  _ I’m never going to drink in my life _ over here,” she said as she grabbed a bowl. 

 

Lance made squawked in offense, and picked at his food. 

 

“How much you guys want to bet that she’s never touched a glass of beer in her life?”

 

Hunk chuckled, and pointed his hand at Lance’s bottled water. 

 

“Maybe, like, we could try one of those margaritas downtown.”

 

Keith and Lance stared at Hunk.

 

“Y’know? Like a date? Just, I’ll be there. And so will Pidge,” he rambled on. 

 

Said girl returned with her bowl of croutons, and sat next to Hunk. 

 

“A date? Count me in.” 

 

“ _ Dude!”  _

  
  


They all burst into laughter.

  
  


*

  
  
  


When they said their wedding vows, it was almost like they were preventing the inevitable, at least for a small fraction of time. 

 

Keith was okay with that. 

 

Sometimes he felt like he was dying along with Lance. 

 

Sometimes he wished he was. 

  
  


*

  
  


They chose the spot, not in the church since Lance said the funeral would probably be arranged in there, but on a lovely beach in Varadero. 

 

Wearing the same shoes, the same tie, and walking the same aisle for his wedding and his husband’s funeral would feel like a short end to something life lasting.

 

The beach never looked more beautiful with Lance standing there, gazing at the waters. 

  
  


*

 

_ Lance and Keith sat outside, leaning on the edges of the rooftop, swinging their legs back and forth behind them. The sun was going down, and the stars began to climb up the sky.  _

 

_ Keith remembered how beautiful Lance’s hair was when it was sunset, and how sharp his eyes became at night. They reflected the moon.  _

 

_ “Man, sometimes I think…” _

 

_ Keith found himself feeling uneased, shifting his eyes back up, ears perking at Lance’s tone.  _

_ “Yeah?” _

 

_ “That, maybe when you’re eighty I’ll just be that thing that happened in your twenties, and you’ll move on with somebody else.”  _

 

_ Keith shot up, feeling a rush of protectiveness. He stood on top of the roof, and then kneeled onto one knee.  _

 

_ “Lance, will you marry me?” _

 

_ The younger man’s eyes widened, and his mouth parted halfway. He looked at a loss for words. _

 

_ “I don’t have a ring or anything, a-and I know this is sudden, but I’d like to remember you when I’m eighty as my husband.”  _

 

_ Lance’s eyes softened, somehow even more pastel than they’d ever been in the night’s darkness. He grinned into his hands like a 13 year old girl and squealed (he would deny it later), as he nodded. _

 

_ “Thank you, Keith.” _

  
  


*

  
  


The wedding was lovely, and Keith wished he could stay like that forever. On a beach, with the person he loved the most in the universe by his side. 

 

When they gripped each other’s hands and moved in to kiss, the last thing on Keith’s mind was how fast it would end. 

 

Staying like that, kissing each other in front of all their friends, made him realize how much less time they had left together. He wanted to savor every moment, but time seemed to trudge on, sucking the life out of the man he treasured. 

 

After the service, as they were getting in the car to drive back to their apartment, Lance collapsed onto the pavement. 

  
  


*

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Keith gripped the wheel, feeling more on edge than he ever had. They were heading back from the hospital for the countless time. 

 

_ One day, it would only be Keith.  _

 

“Don’t apologize, I’m just glad you’re alright.”

 

The sentence hung in the air, feeling much too short, because eventually Lance  _ wouldn’t  _ be alright and his whole world will change.

 

_ Keith’s _ whole world would change. When he aged, would he forget Lance? How many times would he forget in the present, to remind his husband how much he loved him?

 

Every time he said it, he drove himself crazy thinking it’d be the last time. 

 

“I love you.”

 

Lance grinned, and took Keith’s hand as they walked up the steps to their floor. 

 

“Love you more.”

  
  


*

  
  


In the end, he felt like it would be so utterly ambiguous, and inevitable fate assigned to Lance. He understood his entire world would change.

 

After the funeral, Keith never felt more directionless. He walked into their-  _ his  _ room carrying a few large cardboard boxes. Because now, it was only him. 

 

He could still hear Lance’s voice. He wished it was real.

 

He tried organizing things to give away, things to send to his parents, things for the thrift store. 

 

That’s when he noticed Lance’s shoes he’d worn for their wedding day sitting on the shoe rack, in the same place as they’d been the other day when he was alive. 

 

The wedding had been yesterday, and yet it felt like an eternity ago. 

 

Keith got two items in the boxes before breaking down.

  
  


*

  
  


His life continued normally, and he felt betrayed by that fact. Things were different now, but his daily tasks stayed the same.

 

He went to the laundromat, washed clothing, and noticed shirts Lance used to wear. He folded them much neater than his personal clothes. It was the same load of laundry. The clothes that had been worn by him so recently, he could still  _ smell  _ Lance on it. Not wanting to seem obsessive, Keith washed them.

He felt something wash away inside him as well. 

  
  


Keith also visited his friends occasionally, and they went out for beers a couple times.  _ He _ should’ve now been at the legal age for alcohol. 

 

He and Lance never got to share their first drinks together. 

  
  


*

  
  


The second week, Keith had to go and haul himself out of bed to buy groceries. 

 

About halfway through his trip, he noticed garlic knots in the bread section. He was excited to go and surprise Lance when he got back, but that’s when he remembered. 

 

The manager wasn’t sure what to do when he heard there was a customer crying on the floor in aisle 3. 


End file.
